So funny BunsenBurner – maybe I’m just a bad cook but I can never match the silky texture of instant potatoes. My MIL told me the quantity of butter and milk she used – maybe that’s the part I’m missing.
Plus I always seem to be working the day before and the day after (was in retail, then always had to cover the office for some stupid reason). I made cranberry sauce from scratch once – it was good. I wish I could make gravy (my mom’s was heaven; mine – not so much :)). I did cube bread once for stuffing and spent hours cleaning up crumbs that sprayed all over when I cut into the stale bread.
We don’t plan to use instant mashed potatoes, but it is handy to keep a pack in the pantry just in case. We have had an incident before that resulted in too much liquid and the instant potatoes are a quick fix.
The first time my SIL (then D’s boyfriend) came to us at Christmas he was so disappointed that we didn’t have jellied circles of canned cranberry sauce. I’d always made fresh. He is quite the foodie too (and an excellent cook) but that was something he’d always had.
My Mum used to make a boxed sage and onion stuffing mixed with sausage meat (English stuffing and sausage) - I still miss that. I have yet to find a stuffing recipe I really like (but now we do prime rib for Christmas and I am not responsible for stuffing at Thanksgiving)
Everyone do tell - what’s your mashed potato secret???
I almost always go basic: golden potatoes, milk, unsalted butter, salt. Tip: make sure butter is at room temperature and warm the milk before adding. I hand mash with the beaters on the beater for a bit before turning the beaters on - less chunks from the start.
I’ve tried adding sour cream, half and half…not sure if it makes much difference in the flavor to me. I’d just rather add a little extra salt and plenty of butter!
I use a ricer and then just fluff together with a fork. I also warm the milk and soften the butter. I tried doing them in advance and keeping warm in slow cooker - they were ok. But LY I did take over a burner and cook them fresh at my D & SIL (at their request)
Potatoes, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, maybe a little milk. I have a potato masher that I use. I usually prepare in advance, place in a buttered casserole and top with more butter while rewarming (covered with aluminum foil). I love them.
Make sure the potatoes are well drained. Let potatoes sit for a minute or two before adding other ingredients to let more water escape in the form of steam.
Dairy needs to be full fat - at least whole milk but preferably half and half or cream. Sour cream and/or cream cheese optional. And yes, lots of butter. Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Several family members preferred the texture of hand mashed with a potato masher but if you want smoother, a ricer or electric beater works, too. All are good to me, but to maximize the flavor don’t skimp on the dairy fat!
I enjoy these posts and reading about what everyone does for Thanksgiving. My mom use to make cornbread about a week before Thanksgiving and that with some other white bread she made THE BEST corn bread stuffing ever. she was also up at 4:30 fixing the turkey and was pretty much in the kitchen all day. But she loved every minute of it. My husband is 2nd generation Japanese and my daughters are from China. So, we will have a turkey breast, mashed potatoes from Costco and Stove Top stuffing. The real work come with making Shrimp Tempura, Gyoza and Spring rolls and instead of green bean casserole, we’ll have green beans with sesame seeds and soy sauce (they really are good). Oh and the mashed potatoes from Costco are pretty good. You have to “doctor” them up with more milk and butter, but we like them. Same goes with the Stove Top. Add some celery and chopped walnuts and you are good to go. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I believe @zoosermom has the mashed potato recipe to die for. Maybe she will be kind enough to remind us of the method. I printed it out when she released here secret a few years back, but don’t have the patience to transcribe it now.
The green beans are super easy. Boil the green beans to almost whatever firmness you like. I don’t put salt in the water because the soy sauce you will be adding is salty enough. Drain and rinse to stop the beans from cooking. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pan. I use sesame seed oil, but you can use whatever you want. When the oil is hot put the beans in and stir fry them. Turn off the heat and let the beans sit for about a minute. Add toasted sesame seeds and soy sauce to your liking. I use low sodium. I can’t give exact measurements because it depends on how much you are making and how much you like soy sauce. I guess enough to coat the beans. I think I’m too generous with the soy sauce, but my kids would probably drink it out of the bottle with a straw if they thought about it.
My dad received an email a few days ago from someone from Germany that essentially said: “Your cousin (who lives in Germany) gave me your contact information. I will be driving up to spend the holiday with you.”
We have no idea who this person is but checked with his cousin and he (German guy) is a cousin of my dad’s cousin who happens to be getting his PhD here in Michigan.
I think his English skills are just relatively poor but still my dad was like but invited him anyway. No one should be alone on the holidays. (My dad was supposed to work that week but decided to stay home since my mom is still really emotionally fragile.)
Like my mashed potatoes lumpy. It’s one thing when the kids gripe, but even my foodie friend is willing to state she doesn’t liiiike lumpy. Tough. ;( I also like them with plain yogurt. Maybe an acquire taste.
@leftrightleft There are VERY FEW people I trust to make anything.
Even if you give them the recipe. One year I allowed someone else to “help” me by cooking the briskets for my church’s annual seder. I gave him the recipe. (Nach Waxman’s Brisket from one of the Silver Palate books. It’s delicious.) I said, it’s simple, but you have to do it exactly as instructed. This is a recipe where you cook the meat for a while, then you take it out of the pot, slice it, and return it reassembled to cook for another hour or more. Fork tender. He showed up with the briskets, had decided to skip the slicing step. Like rubber. I quickly sliced them, turned the oven up to 450 and blasted them for the hour until we had to serve. It worked out, but I was fraught. Never again.
I once heard a thankgiving story where a young single man volunteered to bring the turkey. He showed up an hour or two before dinner with a frozen turkey in the bag. (Could this really be true? I would have said no, but then there is @deb922 and her potato story!)
I prefer (s)mashed potatoes to “whipped.” This is different from lumpy, in which the mass of the potatoes is very smooth and there are nasty little undercooked lumps.
For stuffing, I usually use a bag of Pepperidge Farm cubes, but I add fresh herbs, cooked sausage, diced apples or dried tart cherries, eggs, sherry, cream…
but invited him anyway. No one should be alone on the holidays. (My dad was supposed to work that week but decided to stay home since my mom is still really emotionally fragile.)